First off, what a difference a few years make:
And today:
I love how big they are getting.
It’s going to be a long, divisive, turbulent summer, because the Trump campaign has figured out they are never going to win Gen Z and younger voters, so are going all in on voter suppression. So it’s gonna be non stop culture war and all in on college radicals from here on out. And because it is summer and this seems to happen every summer, they will go all in on fomenting racism.
I’m still a little under the weather and almost done with all my spring semester stuff, so I have that going for me. Currently rewatching Burn Notice on Hulu, and man it makes me sad thinking about all the great shows on USA during their Blue Sky era. Suits, White Collar, Psych, Monk, Burn Notice, on and on and on. And they pissed it all away.
zhena gogolia
Amazing pics.
stinger
Ya done good, John Cole.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Your house looks so inviting, John
JPL
Love the pics. For me, it’s a toss up between White Collar and Burn Notice.
TaMara
Yes they did. And the front yard looks amazing.
wmd
Looks pretty shady to me.
Jackie
I can’t see you sipping iced tea on your porch anymore.
I bet the shaded porch is enjoyable during the summer months, though!
dexwood
Damn, I love trees. Such amazing living things. I spent the afternoon with my son taking down a loveiy, old, large juniper outside our bedroom. So infested with the beetles that killed it. Such great shade for our high desert bedroom. Sad.
Spanky
When you say “a few years”, exactly how long has it been? A damn sight longer than it feels, I’m guessing.
John Cole
@Spanky: Six years.
JML
Royal Pains was good too. USA really had a nice lineup going, lot of shows that were very well-constructed, actors who knew what they were doing and were enjoyable to watch, and it never felt like a grind to tune in.
The VO and general style on Burn Notice reminded me of Magnum PI (the OG edition, which still holds up remarkably well). Good stuff.
Leto
John your home has amazing curb appeal! Our go-to shows where Psych and Monk. Both were so good.
NotMax
Also too on USA, the slyly subversive Duckman.
Of more recent USA network vintage, Mr. Robot. And Colony was a lesser entry but overall not a bad effort.
Sister Golden Bear
Well done, sir!
And thanks for the reminder to go rewatch Burn Notice.
Trollhattan
First couple seasons of Burn Notice were a hoot because Fiona just wanted to shoot a guy. What a great character.
mrmoshpotato
Oh no! Your front yard trees seem to be conspiring with the willow!
House, run for it!
SiubhanDuinne
@Leto:
I’m currently bingeing Monk on Netflix. Such a good show, and I’ve adored Tony Shalhoub since the Wings days.
seefleur
I love this place, even with the encroaching willow – that is all!
kalakal
Some good news, the Tories got stamped on again by the electorate for the second time this week, this time in the London Mayoral election. Sadiq Khan has been reelected with an increased majority. The Tories ran a vile campaign even by their standards.
Khan re-elected
prostratedragon
Nice foliage!
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
His series Stark Raving Mad (also starring Neil Patrick Harris) came and went practically fast enough to give the NBC peacock whiplash.
;)
suzanne
Looks great. What’s the purple plant back there? Lilac?
I ask because I planted a “Miss Kim” lilac last spring, because I was told it was good for the butterflies. And it looked pretty scraggly last year, and I was concerned about it. BUT! It was the first thing in my yard to bloom this year! It’s a lovely plant!
NotMax
@kalakal
Sunak: “KHAN!!!”
;)
Omnes Omnibus
@kalakal: I am amused by the fact Boris got turned away from his polling place for not having ID.
Jackie
LOL! Karen McDougal, who has been silent throughout TIFG’s Hush Money trial, has a word:
https://www.rawstory.com/karen-mcdougal-trump-shade/
Trust me, it’s worth the click!😂
Jackie
@Omnes Omnibus:
The very law he implemented!😂
TaMara
@John Cole: For the trees right? Because you bought it about the same time I did, coming up on 8 years.
different-church-lady
The willow isAll the trees are too close to the house.CaseyL
Oh, your house looks like such a sweet haven now. At least, from what I can see of it :). Would love to see how the back yard is doing.
Is Joelle coming out for the summer? IIRC, that was the plan: winters in AZ, summers in WV. Dry heat is better than humid heat, but when the dry heat tops 120 degrees, even the humid 90s may start to look good! (I’m not sure how she wants to handle road tripping cross country with two (?) dogs, though.)
mrmoshpotato
@different-church-lady:
And in cahoots with each other!
Jackie
@different-church-lady: The house is getting swallowed between the front trees and the willow! I hope John and the critters escape alive!
Jackie
@mrmoshpotato: Great minds…!😉
sralloway
It’s a beautiful homestead, John. You have done well. May you live well, too.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Monk did a great job of maintaining the core conceit without lapsing into a one-joke show. So many great riffs on the basic premise. One of my favorites is “Mr. Monk Is on the Run”—the way Monk eludes the tracking dogs.
I hadn’t really thought of all of those shows as a USA collection, but it’s true. The only one I didn’t watch was Suits—dunno why. All of the others were great in their own way.
mrmoshpotato
@Jackie: The trees have brains? 😱
Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
yep,
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/#:~:text=Trees%20share%20water%20and%20nutrients,Scientists%20call%20these%20mycorrhizal%20networks.
Geoduck
Someone already mentioned Duckman, which will always be my favorite USA show. It came and went before the network’s highpoint, leading to this biting-the-hand humor in one episode:
“USA? Are they on at night?”
“Hey! Dozens of people watch USA!”
I suppose that’s true once again.
cain
Every year, it’s going to be worse for them because there will be less Trump supporters. Culture war works on trump supporters because by in large they trend older and they lived in during the best times in terms of finding jobs/compensation.
Millennials and Gen Zs? Not so much. You can’t talk about the good old days because there was never any good old days. It’s always been shit and it’s getting worse.
John Revolta
@Geoduck: “What the hell are YOU lookin’ at?”
Jackie
@Jay:
@mrmoshpotato:
Jay has the answer… insert The Twilight Zone 🎶🎶🎶
Jay
@cain:
https://mockpaperscissors.com/2024/05/04/news-that-will-drive-you-to-drink-2098/
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Jackie:
Boris ‘Organized” Johnson.
Great example of “rules are for the little people” biting someone in the arse
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Jackie: isn’t the willow in the backyard?
BTW just how close is it to the house?
Odie Hugh Manatee
@John Revolta:
I really liked the episode where he tears a rift in time and he keeps being confronted by various versions of himself and those around him. Another one was where the townfolk go underground for a test of the emergency system and Duckman traps them there, making him think it’s the end of the world.
Duckman will always be one of my favorite shows. Jason Alexander played him to the hilt. Ajax is my favorite character. Oh, and Joe Walsh!
Jackie
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: Yes, the willow is in the backyard. It’s, by JC’s admission, too close to the house. The front yard trees look to be conspiring with the willow, to swallow his house in one gulp😉
Spanky
@Chacal Charles Calthrop:
Too.
RevRick
@TaMara: In fairness to cable networks like USA, they could no longer compete with streaming services for content. The finances no longer worked, so now they’re reduced to running umpteenth reruns of Law and Order. They didn’t piss it all away; they got squeezed out.
Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom
I love trees!😁 The world 🌎 needs more trees & fewer weapons of any kind.
mrmoshpotato
@Jackie: 🍽️🏘️😋
Jackie
@mrmoshpotato: 👍🏻😂
Kayla Rudbek
@cain: and Gen X is overlooked as usual (although we have far too many Reaganites in my generation)
Gloria DryGarden
@Jay: thank you for this link. I love info about the plant community. Years ago someone sent me a link to Monica Gagliano speaking about her plants research. Now I’ll have to get Wohlleben’s book.
Kerry
You’re so right about USA. What made them change? I still watch the shows you mentioned.